"Five Reasons Why Your Child Won't Be a Scientist" Blog Post

[Catherine]

ITA. Our math\science education, starting from first grade, is seriously lacking and I think that's one of the root causes. Another is just plain ole work ethic. Engineering courses are HARD and require more time and study.

[TXMary2]

What about trying another program? Or a good tutor? What about making it relevant? I always struggled with math because I was intimidated by it. Having a math genius cousin and reading The Dancing Wu Li Masters really helped me. That and getting a decent math teacher. You can do science while struggling with math. You just have to work with it because you will use it often. The more you use it, the easier it will be. But most bio majors have to take calculus, so it's important to go into college ready for it.

 

He has a math teacher/tutor we see once a week for two hours. Plus she is available via phone when he needs her. He has finally had some breakthroughs, but it is because he is putting in so much time. I am praying that one of these days it just "clicks."

[Jean in Wisc]

My nephew got his doctorate in nuclear physics by age 25--a very bright young man. Interestingly, he was the only American-born student in the doctorate program.

 

'Nuff said?

 

Jean

[serendipitous journey]

on the topic of women: I do not understand the push for women in science; I acknowledge that fewer girls may be interested in physics for instance (the ratio of incoming freshmen is 1 girl: 6-7 boys. It was the same under completely different societal circumstances in a communist planned economy with 98% of women in the workforce, when I went to school). there is some loss up the pipeline as women become mothers, but the input is only 1:7, so it is unrealistic to expect a ratio of more than that in faculty positions for example. I am all for encouraging interested girls to pursue their interests and become a scientist, but I fail to see the reasoning behind the push to make more girls go into STEM, just for the sake of having more female scientists.

 

I think it is important to realize that science will not advance if all we have is just one type of thinker working on a problem. Most problems that I am aware of require a very broad range of skills in order for there to be a successful outcome. Some team members will need to be deeply theoretical, some will need to be extremely "hands on", others will need to be extremely practical, some will need to manage the process, etc. Many times technical people will tend to think that their approach to the problem is the best or most valuable, when in reality nothing will get accomplished unless a broad-based set of approaches comes to bear.

 

 

... I think RegGuheert's comment hits on why it is important to actively encourage women to be scientists; Regentrude makes the important point that people shouldn't be pushed into fields that don't interest them, but encouraging women and underrepresented minorities to pursue scientific fields will benefit the whole society (if some of them discover a true love for the scientific fields, and if it is clear that other career options are not inherently less valuable. Like homeschooling :)).

[enviromommy]

My nephew got his doctorate in nuclear physics by age 25--a very bright young man. Interestingly, he was the only American-born student in the doctorate program.

 

'Nuff said?

 

Jean

 

In my DH's lab, only one of his graduate students/post-docs is American. The rest are Indian and Chinese.

[AdventureMoms]

In my DH's lab, only one of his graduate students/post-docs is American. The rest are Indian and Chinese.

 

I think that is pretty standard, and yes, it does show us something about our system... Most of the STEM folks I know who got farther than a BS were not born or educated here for K-12. I can think of maybe 5 that I know who were educated in the US, but two were homeschooled, and one went to a specialized Math & Science boarding school. The other two went to public schools, but were just extraordinarily gifted and fortunate in their HS math teachers.

[Rosy]

I excelled somewhat at math and loved science, but got off the STEM track because Calc scared me. People talked about it with such foreboding. Also, I loved my marching band experience, but as a senior I did have to choose between Calc and band...I chose band.

 

I think people are afraid of (or disinterested in) hard work. Also, schools tend to squash those who are different or have compelling interests in anything--it seems like you would need to have a passion for math or the hard sciences to be willing to put in the effort when your peers are skating through a less rigorous program.

 

I think the pendulum is swinging a *little* more toward geeky heroes, sciency shows like Mythbusters, LOST, Doctor Who, etc....maybe that's just in my house??

 

I don't know enough to comment on #2, but I don't know why ability to memorize would be a determining factor.

 

On one hand I see why it is important to encourage women in STEM fields, on the other hand I think it is wise to encourage women to pursue careers that will not require them to be locked into a M-F, 8-5 schedule. Flexibility and the ability to work from home would be important (I think) to any woman who has an interest in having kids...not that men shouldn't also be flexible, but there is a difference.

 

Also, it seems like things change so rapidly in STEM fields that taking time off to start a family could hinder a career more than in other fields...or even going through seasons where one can't put in extra time in the evenings and on weekends.

 

And yes, I agree with the OP that it would seem that a BA won't get someone very far in pursuing a STEM career...maybe to an entry level position? Am I wrong?

 

http://artofthestem.wordpress.com/2011/11/16/five-reasons-why-your-child-wont-be-a-scientist-and-what-you-can-do-about-it/#trackbacks

 

A summary of the five reasons the author listed:

 

1. Kids think they aren't "good" at math or science. Most STEM majors have a scientist parent. Teachers tend to act like STEM majors are only for the smartest kids.

 

2. The process of memorization and regurgitation drives away the students more likely to "think outside the box" and come up with new theories.

 

3. Science isn't considered cool and kids' heroes aren't scientists.

 

4. Kids rarely hear about new science discoveries and controversies and end up thinking everything has already been figured out.

 

5. Students with good grades in science in K-12 are unprepared for college level STEM work and often change majors.

 

Anyone care to discuss this post? I can think of one major thing the author left out. Many science majors need a graduate degree to get a decent job that isn't just a "glorified monkey button-pushing" job, as my DH (who was a chemistry major) described it.

[kalanamak]

I think that is pretty standard, and yes, it does show us something about our system... Most of the STEM folks I know who got farther than a BS were not born or educated here for K-12.

 

Some of this is work ethic. When I was working on my post-Bac pre-med program (7 days a week, 15 hours a day), only a few of the libraries at Columbia were open on Saturday nights (and over night), so the late night studiers tended to cluster together. Week after week it was me and the Chinese engineering students.

[AdventureMoms]

On one hand I see why it is important to encourage women in STEM fields, on the other hand I think it is wise to encourage women to pursue careers that will not require them to be locked into a M-F, 8-5 schedule. Flexibility and the ability to work from home would be important (I think) to any woman who has an interest in having kids...not that men shouldn't also be flexible, but there is a difference.

 

Schedule is a big problem for women who are in academia (regardless of discipline), but in industry the women I know who have STEM degrees have no problem taking maternity leave or time off when they need to. I'm not sure why this would be a problem specific to STEM fields. Also there's no rule that STEM jobs have to be M-F, 8-5. Many are not. My DW gave birth to our twins, then took 3 months off and worked part-time for another 6wks. I've taken nearly 4 years off at this point to raise children, but I could get back in if I needed to. It gets harder the longer you are away, but that's true of every career out there.

 

Also, it seems like things change so rapidly in STEM fields that taking time off to start a family could hinder a career more than in other fields...or even going through seasons where one can't put in extra time in the evenings and on weekends.

 

And yes, I agree with the OP that it would seem that a BA won't get someone very far in pursuing a STEM career...maybe to an entry level position? Am I wrong?

 

Well a BA won't give you much, no. If you're interested in a STEM career you probably won't be pursuing a BA anyhow. But a BS can be enough in some STEM areas. A BS Engineering will give you many, many options. I worked for 5 years as an engineer at 3 different companies, and never put more than a few hours of overtime here and there. And most of that was by choice because I didn't have kids at the time. I did start at an entry level engineering position, but starting salaries for engineers are in the 50-60,000 range (at least), and there are plenty of opportunities to move up in many companies.

 

My DW has a BS plus about 6 years experience. No further formal education. She gets headhunter calls regularly even though she is not actively pursuing a new job, and even though the economy is awful. I have an MS (paid for by a previous employer) and 5 years of experience, but haven't worked in 4 years or job hunted in 5 years. I was not particularly good at what I did. I still get the occasional call.

 

Engineering is really not a bad career path for women who are interested in it. Most engineering jobs are stable and don't require a ton of overtime or travel. "Technology" is a bet nebulous to me, but I can think of a few career fields that qualify that you would be able to get into with a BS or less. Most would be similar to Engineering in terms of hours and such. Science and Math can be more challenging in some ways - doing graduate work is more important and pickings are slimmer for jobs - but I know several happy female scientists with children as well. Most of them do have PhD's though, and they all have at least an MS.

[mirth]

Blogger's reason #2 is so idiotic, it discredits anything else he/she might've said that might have been vaguely plausible.